The Blind Vagabond
by Blake Nesbit
Summary: A request for ekid45 on Reddit. A story of Shisui Uchiha's life after losing his light, and how one person changed how he looked at the world.


_I am Shisui Uchiha._

_ No one is allowed to know that. I'm supposed to be dead. One eye of mine was stolen by Danzo Shimura, and the other I entrusted to Itachi Uchiha._

_ I elected to disappear. I faked my own death an fled to the Land of Lightning. Four years I waited, and then returned to the Leaf._

_ This story begins in the Tavern in the Mists, at the Lightning Dust Crossroads. There I met the one person who would speak to a blind vagabond._

Shisui sat in an old wooden chair in an obscure corner of the tavern. As usual, nobody approached him for the majority of the night.

Then, almost at the break of dawn, he heard the chair across from him creak.

"A woman," Shisui murmured to himself.

"I am. You're not blind, then?"

"I am. I have been for years. I can hear the difference between a man and a woman sitting down."

"Can you, now?" The woman was silent for a moment, and Shisui heard a page turning. "Kangai Hatake. You?"

"...Sakumo Yamamoto."

"Really? My father's name was Sakumo."

"Sakumo Hatake? The White Fang?"

"That's the one."

"What brings you here?"

"Returning from a mission with my cell. How about you?"

"Going where the world takes me."

"Not much else to do when you're blind, hm?"

"No, not really."

Shisui heard a book close. "I should get some sleep. Maybe we'll meet again someday, Sakumo."

"Maybe, Kangai. I hope so."

_Years passed. Six, eight, maybe ten more? I eventually returned to the Leaf. The story continues in Ichiraku Ramen..._

Shisui was eating slowly. He vaguely heard a set of muddled voices outside coming inside. He didn't pay much attention until he heard a book close.

He'd heard that sound before. It had been...what, six, eight, ten years? Before he knew it, the name had left his lips.

"Kangai Hatake?"

The voices fell silent. One, a young man's voice, spoke still.

"I'm sorry? Did you say 'Kangai Hatake'?"

"I recognize the sound of that book closing. I never forget a sound if it's associated with someone. That book makes a unique sound when closed. That book belonged to Kangai Hatake."

"You knew Kangai?"

"I met her once. My name is Sakumo Yamamoto."

"Ah...she mentioned you once. I, ah...well, if anyone, I should be the one to tell you this, but...Kangai passed eight years ago. She was killed in action."

"Then who are you?"

"I'm her younger brother, Kakashi."

"I see. Eight years, you said? Allow me to extend my condolences."

"Thank you. It's nice to hear that people still remember her. Everyone else has all but forgotten."

"Kangai was a beautiful spirit. In the two years I spent in that tavern, she was the only one to approach me."

"She was. She really was."

"Hmm? Kakashi-sensei, are you-"

"Haruno." Shisui interrupted.

"Huh? Yeah, how did you know?"

"Kakashi Hatake is known as the leader of Team Seven. Team Seven consists of Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno. Sakura is a name typically given to girls. If Kakashi is here and there are people accompanying him-more than one, anyway-the people with him are likely to be his team."

"You...you're...wow. H-how did you figure all that out so quickly?"

"When you have no eyes, your mind becomes surprisingly more functional."

"You're brilliant. What did you say your name was?"

"Sakumo Yamamoto."

"Wow...there's just one small error you made."

"Hmm?"

"Sasuke...is no longer part of our team. He went rogue three years ago."

"...I see. I apologize."

"Why?"

"Talking about Sasuke pains you. I can hear it in your voice."

"Ah...mm...r-right."

"I knew his brother Itachi. He was a respectable man."

"Respectable? He murdered his clan!"

_I couldn't tell them the truth. I knew what had really happened. But even if I had told them, would they have believed this blind vagabond?_

_ Choosing to disappear come with a heavy price. You often find yourself starved for company, and no one who will grant it to you. Each and every day you're living a lie. I only wished that Kangai knew who I truly was._

_ So I found a way._

Shisui knocked on Kakashi's door as the sun was going down. It took a minute before he answered. "Sakumo? What's up?"

"Can you take me to her grave?"

A pause, then, "Of course."

It was a twenty-minute walk to Kangai's grave. She had been buried at the Hero's Memorial, alongside her father.

"Here, Sakumo."

"Thank you. You can return home. What I have to say is for her and her alone."

"Of course." Kakashi walked away.

Shisui waited for a while, then started talking to her.

"Kangai...I never thanked you for what you did. Two years in that tavern, you were the only one kind enough to come up to me. And yet I wasn't honest with you. My name is not Sakumo Yamamoto. I am Shisui Uchiha. I wish we had gotten to see each other before you passed. I'm sure it won't be long before I myself pass. Then, perhaps, we can see each other again. And I will be able to see you for the first time..." He knelt before the grave. "I don't have much I can offer...but perhaps this will suffice." He rummaged around his pack and pulled out a crow feather. "Here." He placed it on the grave. "My gift to you for your kindness." He stood up. "Maybe someday I will return. Until then, farewell."

The next day, Kakashi woke up early to visit Kangai's grave. He saw the crow feather and smiled a little. "So he visited you, huh? Well, he got me thinking. It's been a while since I talked with you." He took out _Make-Out Tactics_ from his pack. "Y'know, Jiraiya put a new one out. This one's pretty good. Better than _Make-Out Violence_, I think. I've finished it already, but I know how much you love the series. I figured I'd go through it again. With you, this time." Kakashi sat next to her grave, under a tree, and opened the book. "Y'know, I may be a busy guy, but I've always got time to spend with my big sister." He smiled wistfully. "Even when she's not around."


End file.
